As the world struggles with surging COVID-19 cases, Viet Nam, along with Taiwan (China) and Singapore, has succeeded in limiting local transmissions to almost zero, said Japan’s Nikkei Asia on 6 January.

Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

The article said the three Asian economies offer rare success stories in containing local transmission using rigorous testing and quarantine.

In addition to a 14-day quarantine for entrants, Viet Nam also discloses personal information on newly infected people for quick tracing of close contacts.

In Taiwan, violators of quarantine regulations face fines of up to over 37,800 USD under special regulations enacted in February. People with positive PCR tests must be hospitalised at the government's expense instead of recovering at home.

After battling unruly spikes in cases among migrant workers, Singapore has contained daily local transmissions to nearly zero these days through rigorous testing and tracing.

The city-state, with a population 5.7 million, has conducted roughly 5.4 million tests. The government still requires testing every two weeks for foreign workers residing in dorms. Nearly 80 percent of the population has either the government's contact-tracing mobile app or a palm-sized tracking device, it said.

Source: VNA